Monrovia’s Arron Rosas (left) keeps the ball away from La Canada’s Nick Ortiz during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Monrovia’s David Johnson hops in the air as he gets possession of the ball during a boys soccer game against La Canada at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

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La Canada’s Jake Tolkin (left) gets into position to head the ball to a teammate during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

La Canada’s Matthew Brown (left) jostles for the ball against Monrovia’s Gordon Sheppard during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

La Canada’s Dylan Pastor sends the ball away before Monrovia’s Justin Albert (18) can challenge him during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

La Canada’s Jake Tolkin approaches the ball before sending it to a teammate during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

La Canada’s Daniel Landesman (center) collides with Monrovia’s Seth Sandoval as the ball bounces past them during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Monrovia’s Seth Sandoval (left) dribbles the ball across the field as La Canada’s Daniel Landesman tries to challenge him during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Monrovia’s Justin Albert (left) reaches for a loose ball in front of La Canada’s goal during a boys soccer game at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

Monrovia’s Seth Sandoval celebrates with David Johnson (11) and Keenan Mckelvey (7) during a boys soccer game against La Canada at Monrovia High School in Monrovia, Calif. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. (Correspondent photo by Trevor Stamp)

MONROVIA >> Monrovia High sophomore Seth Sandoval has dealt with is fair share of adversity this season.

He was dropped from the varsity to the junior varsity over the summer because of roster size.

After getting promoted back to varsity during fall workouts, the 5-foot 8 forward wasn’t eligible to play for academic reasons.

“I didn’t play until January — but I had to continue to work hard because I wanted to get back on the field,” Sandoval said.

The Wildcats are happy Sandoval handled his business. He scored the game-winning goal, on a shot from 10 yards out, that propelled Monrovia (15-6-3, 8-1) to a 3-2 victory over visiting La Canada (10-3-5, 6-1-2) and to win the Rio Hondo League boys soccer title on Tuesday afternoon.

“I got a pass from Keenan (McKelvey), the defender went in front of me and I went left, then right, I was in the clear, saw the goalkeeper, placed the ball on the left side and it went it,” Sandoval said in describing the game-winning score. “This win is big for my seniors. I wanted to win for them so bad.”

“He’s a sophomore; we got two more years with him,” first-year Monrovia coach Andrew Barajas said. “I’m loving the kid. He didn’t have his grades at the beginning of the year, but he got his act together and he is here with us.”

Barajas felt that in the first match against La Canada back on Jan. 17 — a 2-1 loss — that his team dominated play. On Tuesday, Barajas observed that the game was played totally different pace.

“I think La Canada came out and moved the ball very well,” he said. “(La Canada) totally surprised me and controlled the pace for the majority of the game. My guys had a little more skill and that is what really helped us out.”

Monrovia scored the game’s opening goal in the eighth minute when senior forward Aymen Saleh deposited a the ball off a deflection from Spartan goalkeeper Will Bley for a 1-0 advantage.

Monrovia senior David Johnson, who was a constant presence all over the field, scored five minutes into the second half to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

“My teammate took it down the line, crashing into the scoring area. I did what I could. He laid a perfect pass and I put into the bottom corner,” the 6-foot 3 Johnson said. “I was happy to score for my team.”

The Spartans cut the margin to 2-1 when Dylan Pastor took a rebound from a deflection by Wildcats goalkeeper Edward Yousseff and put it into the back of the net in the 58th minute. Nine minutes later, the Spartans tied it when Yousseff was unable to handle a corner kick by junior defender Trevar Bambanian.

“La Canada is very solid on their set pieces, that’s how they got their two goals against us at their place,” Barajas said. “We knew what to expect and you saw the mistake from our goalkeeper that pushed it in. It was a bad mistake by our defensive line not paying attention on the first goal.”

While Barajas expressed his appreciation for winning a league title in his first year at the helm of the Wildcats, he thinks his team can make a run in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.

“This feels good, but I’m losing my hair already,” Barajas said. “This is only the beginning for us. Just because we won league doesn’t mean that we want to stop here. We want to go as far as we can.”

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